Robin Hood
by Aseikh
Summary: Robin Hood AU, where Will Treaty leads a small thieving group called the Merry Men, and he's known throughout Araluen as the one and only Robin Hood.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice, or Robin Hood, nor any of the characters used in this story.**

 **(A/N): I was asked for my opinion on a robin hood au on tumblr, took it _way_ too seriously, and this came out of it. Enjoy!**

* * *

 _"'. . . and so I want you to send out someone, preferably a skilled Ranger, to catch this masked vigilante, before he steals more of the crown's gold.'" Duncan finished reading the Baron's letter, and hesitated, but then continued with "Does that sound vaguely familiar to anyone else?"_

 _Across his desk, Halt and Crowley sat in straight backed chairs, while Gilan and Horace were left to pace behind them. In truth, it was only Horace pacing, as Gilan was sitting on the arm of Halt's chair, sitting completely still except for his bouncing leg._

 _Halt scoffed. "You're saying Will's started up again? So, what're we supposed to do, go hunt for him? What happened last time we did that?"_

 _The commandant next to the grizzled Ranger cringed. The other three Rangers still had bruises from when Will had escaped, some of the beatings so bad that they had to take a few days off from Ranger duties._

 _The King shrugged, and started to say something before he noticed Horace in the back of the room, wearing a hole in his rug. The spectacle of watching the knight pace back and forth caught the monarch's attention for a few moments, before Halt cleared his throat. "Ahh," Duncan said, still attempting to pull his eyes away from Horace, "well, could you try and talk with him? It's not the money that's a problem, it's the fact that he keeps beating up the guards to get it."_

* * *

Will Treaty pulled up the dark green mask, covering his mouth and nose and leaving only his eyes to be viewed. Not that anyone would see his eyes, as immediately after he set a wide brimmed dark green hat upon his head, with its hawk feather sticking out of the band. Instead of his multi-colored Ranger cloak, he wore a cape of a single shade of green, a forest green, only a few shades lighter than his hat and mask. In his hand, instead of his bow, Will held a thick wooden staff, while his bow was slung over his shoulder. He wouldn't be needing it in this run, as Reily was handling that position. His saxe and throwing knives were removed from their signature double sheath, and were now in hidden sheaths.

He could hear the tax cart coming up the road, with the _clop, clop, clop,_ of the lead horse, and the mounts of the surrounding guards. If Benji and Gabe were in position, everything should go smoothly, and no one would be hurt worse than a few bruises. Hopefully, Reily wouldn't need to loose any arrows, either.

Leaning closer to the tree, as his cape didn't keep him hidden as well as his Ranger cloak did, he let the cart pass. There seemed to only be five guards, one leading in the front, one riding with the driver of the cart, one on either side of the cart, and one bringing up the back. Will let the rear guard pass, before stepping out into the open. He followed directly behind the rear guard, stepping silently.

As he did so, the guard on the far side of the guard let his horse slow down a bit, and crossed over to the other guard. He watched Benji lean over his saddle to speak with the guard, the one who didn't realize he wasn't actually a guard. Even though Will couldn't see it, Gabe, who sat next to the driver, continued his conversation, casually draping his arm around the smaller man's shoulders.

That's when Will moved.

He stepped to the side of the horse, swinging his staff towards to guard's leg. It cracked into his knee, bouncing back in Will's hand. As the guard doubled over, gripping his knee and yelling in pain, chaos erupted on the small stretch of path. Before the horse could gallop off in surprise of it's master's yell, Will had already put his foot in the stirrup, which the guard had abandoned when his knee had been hit. Gripping the guard by his collar, the Ranger dragged him from his seat, immediately taking it as his own.

Ahead of him, Benji had drawn a dagger, and had slammed it into the guard's head. He tumbled from his saddle.

At the cart, Gabe had tightened his grip on the driver, and the smaller man, being unable to struggle, submitted, and was promptly thrown off.

And the front guard had ridden too far ahead to hear any of it.

Will cantered forward with his borrowed steed, and met up with Gabe and Benji at the cart that hadn't stopped rolling.

"We good?" Gabe asked gruffly. His burly figure fit awkwardly in the too small guards uniform that he had liberated, and he didn't look to happy about missing the action.

Benji leaned around, glancing down the path to where the front guard should have been. He only confirmed what Will had figured earlier.

The Ranger shrugged, but didn't remove his mask. "Looks good to me. Get this back to Bansky, and we'll be complete."

Gabe nodded, but then paused before he stopped the horses. "Where're you going, Robin?"

Will smiled, but neither Gabe nor Benji could tell. They only heard him say, "I got another job," before he turned, and galloped off.

* * *

Benji also had another job to deal with, before he returned to their camp. Earlier, as they were passing through another town, he saw a tall man forcibly take a coin purse from a young woman. Normally, he wouldn't let himself get involved with minor cases like that, but considering that the tall man had a uniform on, and the woman's dress was rather threadbare, Benji thought it would be all right.

And at the moment, the tall man walked in front of him, tossing the stolen coin pouch up in the air, and catching it as it as it came back down.

The young man watched him, tossing it up and down, following him wherever he walked, which seemed to just be circles around the main marketplace. Benji established the rhythm, and just as the man threw it up again, he slipped forward, snatched the coin bag out of the air, and sprinted away. He heard the guard behind him cursing, yelling at someone to stop him, to 'catch the little fiend'.

He dove to the side, and into the thick forest right at the edge. All he had to do was make it to his horse, and he'd be home free. He'd circle around, find the woman, and give her the money back. As he came to the clearing that he left his horse in, he slowed his sprint to a jog, not hearing the yelling guard behind him any longer.

Benji walked towards his stolen horse, and placed a foot in the stirrup.

Someone's hand went over his mouth, cutting off his scream. Their other arm wrapped around his neck and putting him in a headlock. Benji kicked out, brought his hands up to the person's arm, but they were deadlocked. Whoever had ahold of him dragged him backwards, away from the horse where his kicks wouldn't harm the animal.

"You're gonna tell me you're boss' name, or I'll slit your throat," a voice hissed in his ear. He stopped struggling. They were after Will.

Only a few of the members of Will's small following knew his name was actually _Will_ and not _Robin._ If they all knew who he was, his identity would have been at serious stake. If only a few knew who he truly was, then they were there to help him if he was out of persona. But even with only a few knowing, there was still the chance that his name might spoken at the wrong moment. Or situations like this.

The hand moved from his mouth, and in turn he felt the arm around his neck shift, and a knife placed at his throat. "You will not scream. You will say the name, and only the name, and you can go free. Understand?" The vice tightened around his neck when Benji didn't respond. " _Understand?"_

Benji nodded numbly. He recalled Will's words when he first revealed who he was.

 _"Now realize, I want you to keep this a secret. If someone slyly asks if you may or may not know my real name, deny it. Say that all you know is what I go by, what they know me by. Robin. But if someone puts a knife to your throat? If it's your life against my name? Scream it from the rooftops. Say it. Say my name, and send the fuckers to me, and I'll be sure to repay the terror. I can handle myself. I just don't want it to be common knowledge that a King's Ranger is stealing from him."_

Benji gulped, "Will Treaty," he whispered hoarsly.

The body behind him stiffened. In a distinctly male voice, as it was unidentifiable as he whispered, the man plainly asked, "The Ranger?"

The Merry Man, who wasn't so merry at the moment, nodded again. The knife disappeared from his throat, as did the arm. Now Benji stood on his own two feet, hesitating to turn around. When he finally decided to spin, the clearing was empty, save for himself and his horse.

* * *

Will Treaty, tipped back his chair, and placed his feet up on the table. The report he was reading was of a tax cart disappearance. Two guards had been found unconscious at the fief castle, their uniforms stolen, while two more were abandoned on the road. One was injured with a cracked knee cap, while the other had been knocked unconscious from his horse. The lead guard had been completely unaware, even when the cart driver had been thrown off the side. The fifth guard was nowhere to be seen. It was a suspected Merry Men hit, although their infamous leader, known only as 'Robin Hood', even though he wore a hat and not a hood, hadn't come forward to claim the hit just yet.

He would have to do that soon, come out and say it. Maybe back at Bansky, where he had sent the money back? The return of the money hadn't been mentioned in the report, so he assumed Gabe did as he said.

Someone knocked at his door. Will looked over his shoulder, glancing at the door. While he had been reading, Tug had knickered. It was a friendly.

Will spun his legs off the table edge, the chair plopping back to the ground.

"Will." Grey said in greeting as he opened the door. He stood there with two other Rangers, Tucker and Damien.

Everything froze in Will's mind. Gabe had mentioned Benji going off somewhere, and that he didn't say where. Benji knew his name, Gabe didn't.

 _They know._

He grinned in response. "Hey! What're you three doing here? Passing through?" His travel bag was still on Tug's saddle, which Tug still wore. He had been planning on heading to Redmont, but had stopped at his cabin to check the mail. The bag with his costume lay on the table behind him. Will pulled the door open full, letting the three Rangers in. He moved a block of wood in front of the door, keeping it open. As his visitors filed in, he glanced out. Tug was where he was left, of course, just at the porch steps.

His bow and staff leaned against the door frame.

"No, we were sent here to check up on a piece of information," Tucker replied. He and Grey sat at the table, Grey fingering the report he had been reading. Tucker, glancing over and seeing that, smiled and motioned towards it. "About that, actually."

Damien stood behind where Grey sat, tall and silent.

"The Merry Men? Here?" Will forced himself to laugh, it sounding more natural then what he felt. "No offense, but I think I would know about it." He moved to clear the table. Picking up the bag with his costume and feigning looking for a place to put it, Will put the strap on his shoulder, and continued picking the scattered reports.

"That's exactly what we're getting at."

Will paused, shuffled the papers into something that resembled a pile, then placed it back on the table. Tucker still held the Robin Hood report. "I don't see what you're getting at."

That's when Damien said his first words. While he was tall, and usually silent, he had one of the biggest hearts in the Corps. "We're sorry Will, but Tucker caught one of the smaller members in a town not far from where the tax cart hit happened. When threatened, he said your name. Being who you are, we needed to come check it out immediately. He ran pretty fast too when Tuck released him, so we assumed he might have been running to warn you."

Now Will smiled easily. Benji was okay. He could do this. Will leaned against the door frame, placing his back against his staff and bow. None of the Rangers seemed to notice. "That can be disproved easily, guys. I was here last night, helping a kid. He's asleep in my guest room." His hand snuck around, gripping the staff.

Grey stood up, and opened the door to the room. Tucker stood as well, and walked towards Will. He started to say something, from his looks, and apology. He didn't have a chance to say it though, because that's when Grey called out, "Hey! There's no one in here!"

Will sweeped the staff out, taking Tucker's legs out from underneath him. Before either Damien or Grey could react, Will had his bow over his back, and slung by his quiver. That's when Damien was around the table, a striker out and gripped in his fist. All Will did was sweep his staff back again, higher this time. It slammed into Damien's side, and he stumbled back, giving Will time to deal with Grey.

Who was standing with his bow drawn, an arrow pointed at Will's chest.

"Don't do this, Will."

He placed his staff on the ground, vertically, and leaned against it. Tucker was sitting, holding his shin, and Damien was laying on his side on the floor, holding his side. With the door wide behind him, all he had to do was step to the side and he'd be out of the arrow's path.

But there was nothing theatrical in that.

Will smiled, a smile he'd been saving for the day this happened. He shrugged, and said, "Too late," before kicking out the door stopper, just as the wind picked up, and slammed it shut. They hadn't realized that he had stepped back, and had been standing on the porch the entire time.

Before Grey could stumble around Damien and Tucker on the floor, Will had vaulted the porch fence, and onto Tug's back. Before he opened the door, Will was gone.

Which gave Robin Hood a full-day job.

* * *

 _That's when Horace turned to respond. "I would gladly talk to him," he paused, setting a hand on the hilt of his sword. "If only we could find him."_


End file.
